Actavis Ltd of Bulebel has launched Glimepiride in a number of EU markets. The launch has been timed to coincide with the expiry of the originator’s patent in the first week of December. The product is an oral blood glucose lowering drug.

Actavis Ltd is a subsidiary of the Actavis Group, a multinational pharmaceutical organisation that employs 10,000 people in 32 countries. The Maltese operation alone has a workforce of no less than 350 highly skilled employees.

“Glimepiride is the first product that has been fully developed, manufactured and launched in Malta, and this is a milestone for the company”, said managing director Steinthor Palsson. During the first week of December no fewer than 35 million tablets were delivered to Germany, Denmark and Finland. These will be followed by supplies to Lithuania, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands in early 2006.

Glimepiride is the third major product launched by Actavis Ltd in the last three months following the recent launches of Terbinafine and Sertraline. All launches require a logistical plan timed to perfection, as Mr Palsson explained. “Our competitive advantage is not simply the range of quality products we supply, but the ability to supply them at just the right time to enable our customers to gain a strong position in their market. We cannot deliver the product before the patent expiry date, but our customers want to be in the market on day one of patent expiry. In order to accommodate this, everything must be timed carefully, from the development, registration and gaining marketing authoritisation to the manufacturing of the products, the loading of the cargo, to the time that the plane leaves Malta. This is very challenging but I am pleased to say that Actavis Ltd has a workforce which has proved to be up to the task.”